A new study finds that American workers will use personal protective equipment if their employers give them.
Researchers at the CDC National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety analyzed responses to surveys of 742 non-medically remote care workers in June last year who did not use PPE at work before the Covid pandemic. -19.
Only 29% used PPE if left entirely to their own devices, the team reported Thursday in the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly morbidity and mortality. More than half of those who used PPE were forced to do so by employers. And use doubled if PPE was provided, they found.
Approximately 30% of workers who were not required to use PPE were provided with equipment by employers, the NIOSH team found, and 45% of these workers used PPE. This is compared to 22% of workers who did not use PPE if it was not provided.
The team also found that 8% of workers were banned from using PPE by their employers. “In general, lower-income workers were more likely than higher-income workers to be prohibited from using risk control or unable to obtain it,” the team wrote.
The team also noted why it is important to wear PPE.
Failure to protect workers from COVID-19 could exacerbate existing health disparities, including among lower-income populations, the team said. “Workers with lower incomes are more likely than those with higher incomes to have pre-existing health conditions that could increase the risk of serious illness associated with COVID-19.”
Of those who did not use PPE and other hazard controls at work, 15% could not obtain them and 77% said they were not necessary.
Low-income workers have been banned from using or unable to obtain them, compared to lower-income workers.
“Employers can help protect workers against Covid-19 by requesting and encouraging the use of occupational risk control and providing recommended hazard controls, along with other precautions in the Covid-19 workplace,” the report said.